New Head-Fier

I have found the same thing, much more neutral than I would have expected going in. Not a big believer in huge changes using different cable, but I did notice a significant difference in the tightening of bass and treble enhancement using a Toxic Cables SW22.

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Have you listened to the ZMF Omni? When I let anyone listen to them people always say "Wow, those mids, everything else is still there but those Mids"

Head-Fier

New Head-Fier

Joined:
Apr 4, 2016

Posts:
23

Likes: 11

To be honest, I like them both. Before I sent the LCD's off for repair I thought hands down they were better but I'm not so sure anymore with this newest driver they sent them back with. I honestly wish I had kept the first pair with what the company is calling the old driver. They were originally purchased 3 months ago so I was surprised when I was told by Audeze it is a different driver. Multiple people heard the headphones before they went away. I had the Omni first but was blown away when I heard someone elses LCD-2F so I got a pair and originally felt like wow I made a mistake getting the Omni's over the LCD (which I needed a closed-ish back headphone for work) but now with the newer pair I'm not so sure. Now I feel like the Omni is better and def has a stronger vocal. I'm trying out different tubes and trying to give the LCD's a chance to open up but unsure if this will help as the others were fantastic out of the box. I've tried NOS Mullards, NOS Bugle Boys & NOS Voskhod. I'll continue to post as I listen more and/or get feed back from others.

Head-Fier

To be honest, I like them both. Before I sent the LCD's off for repair I thought hands down they were better but I'm not so sure anymore with this newest driver they sent them back with. I honestly wish I had kept the first pair with what the company is calling the old driver. They were originally purchased 3 months ago so I was surprised when I was told by Audeze it is a different driver. Multiple people heard the headphones before they went away. I had the Omni first but was blown away when I heard someone elses LCD-2F so I got a pair and originally felt like wow I made a mistake getting the Omni's over the LCD (which I needed a closed-ish back headphone for work) but now with the newer pair I'm not so sure. Now I feel like the Omni is better and def has a stronger vocal. I'm trying out different tubes and trying to give the LCD's a chance to open up but unsure if this will help as the others were fantastic out of the box. I've tried NOS Mullards, NOS Bugle Boys & NOS Voskhod. I'll continue to post as I listen more and/or get feed back from others.

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Thanks for that! Do you find the tonal balance quite similar between the headphones? and is the bass impact/presence quite similar too?

New Head-Fier

Joined:
Apr 4, 2016

Posts:
23

Likes: 11

umm I had to put them both on listening to the same song to make sure I was remembering correctly. They way I would describe the experience is the LCD-2F delivers the music to you all together, I don't notice one thing over the other (linear). The Omni's feel like your listening to the singer and the music is there to assist. When I was buying the Omni's Zach continuously said he believed the Omni's to be linear but I would say the Mids are stronger than the other tons. That is not to say it is a bad experience.... its just so much different than other headphones I have had and I can honestly say I'm glad to own both but at the end of it I would say the Mid, Lows and Highs are much more linear on the LCD's than the Omnis. It kind of depends on what your wanting to listen to at that moment if you want to hang on every word or if you want to be cast into the recording itself being surrounded by the music. As I write that thought I find myself really focusing intensely while listening to the Omnis (not just the vocals but to everything) but not so much while listening to the LCD's. I instead find myself focusing on other things while listening to the LCD's more multitasking. This is just my personal opinion so take it..... with a grain of salt.

100+ Head-Fier

Is the bass as impactful/visceral as you expected? I assume this is the new 2016 revision of the LCD2.2f...

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First off I edited my original post, I was talking about LCD-2F. The bass has very nice impact. I think the reason I felt bass quantity was lacking was due to the accuracy of the bass. With extremely low distortion and fast decay, bass is only present exactly where it is needed. The statements made where in the first day of having the LCD-2f listened to on my avr.

We are hearing things very similarly. Mine are 2016 LCD-2F. I've had them for 3 months. After about 30 hours of use, I found they are surprisingly neutral. The bass is very full and satisfying but not overly emphasized. The treble has sparkle but never harsh. The mids are still very present in the mix.

The LCD-2F's are much more detailed and revealing than I was expecting. Very fun to listen to. I have had a couple pairs of neutral phones that I found boring. The LCD-2F's are definitely not that. I suspect I will have these for a long time unless I decided to go with LCD-XC at some point. (Just to get some isolation)

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Well put, treble sparkle w/o any harshness. The cans are much more engaging than other neutral cans I have owned. I remember listening to the hd598, which at the time where some of the best sounding headphones I ever heard. The sound was outstanding but so boring I sold them knowing I would not be able to afford a better set. The sound sig of the LCD-2f is pleasantly accurate.

Headphoneus Supremus

Damn, all this talk of flat dry and sterile is making me think I bought the wrong version of the LCD 2! I was looking for something that would be more toward warm than my TH 600. I'll wait and see how I hear the LCD 2 on my rig, but you people are killing me.

100+ Head-Fier

What is the opinion on the new revision? I bought a pair of BNIB LCD2F that were originally purchased by another member here on 3-3-16. I opened them they were brand new and they had a crack in the wood so I contacted Audeze and got them RMA'd but I did take the chance to listen to them for a couple days so I knew what those sounded like.... they were amazing so much better than my ZMF Omni's in my opinion. I just got the replacement set and they sound awful in comparison to the other pair. I was told I had an older driver and the one sent back is the newest driver. Just wonder other peoples opinion on this. Maybe they need to have some time to open up, not really sure. Audeze has offered to rma them again to verify nothing is wrong but I've only had the headphones maybe 4 days since I bought them while being gone to Audeze for a week and in shipment for three weeks. I don't want to waste Audeze's time if it is something that will resolve itself or if there might be something that Audeze really needs to look at to fix. The LCD-2F I now have seem muffled and vocals seem dim. I'm going to go home and listen to them again for another couple of hours but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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I also thought the most recent LCD-2 sounded muffled. Coming from brighter headphones from HifiMan and Grado I expected something more laid back. Sometimes it takes a while for the brain to learn how to interpret something new.

Some headphones have taken me months to fully appreciate, which makes some auditions steer me in the wrong direction. Frustrating!

500+ Head-Fier

I also thought the most recent LCD-2 sounded muffled. Coming from brighter headphones from HifiMan and Grado I expected something more laid back. Sometimes it takes a while for the brain to learn how to interpret something new.

Some headphones have taken me months to fully appreciate, which makes some auditions steer me in the wrong direction. Frustrating!

Headphoneus Supremus

What's making me a little frustrated about trying a thick creamy (what I know and want them for) used LCD2 again is that I'm confused and totally uncertain what I'm going to get. By now there must be like at least five different revisions not even counting before 2.2. We have people's opinions all over the place..

To me this Audeze story has become the biggest box of chocolates you don't know what you're going to get :\

500+ Head-Fier

To be honest, I like them both. Before I sent the LCD's off for repair I thought hands down they were better but I'm not so sure anymore with this newest driver they sent them back with. I honestly wish I had kept the first pair with what the company is calling the old driver. They were originally purchased 3 months ago so I was surprised when I was told by Audeze it is a different driver. Multiple people heard the headphones before they went away. I had the Omni first but was blown away when I heard someone elses LCD-2F so I got a pair and originally felt like wow I made a mistake getting the Omni's over the LCD (which I needed a closed-ish back headphone for work) but now with the newer pair I'm not so sure. Now I feel like the Omni is better and def has a stronger vocal. I'm trying out different tubes and trying to give the LCD's a chance to open up but unsure if this will help as the others were fantastic out of the box. I've tried NOS Mullards, NOS Bugle Boys & NOS Voskhod. I'll continue to post as I listen more and/or get feed back from others.

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I agree. These revisions are so one foot forward, one foot back. The newest fazors have fantastic bass: low, tight, textured. The midrange however seems not only less forward and magic-y, but overall less smooth. They are overall more detailed, but less smooth and correct in the midrange. I think the LCD2 drivers are too limited- Audeze trying to make them a more neutral,detailed headphone to compete with the newest headphones isn't working- it only highlights the imbalances of the treble more

I might upgrade to the LCD3 as its a more capable design and can probably better handle Audeze's shift towards neutral mids